We are Beautiful

We are beautiful women who have no idea we are beautiful. We stand in front of the mirror and tear ourselves apart, going over every seeming imperfection, every flaw, every bit of evidence that we are not as we were once so long ago.

This is insanity.

In five years, we will salivate for this skin. In ten years, we will have nothing but respect for this ass. In twenty, we won't care about any of it--scanning our pictures instead for signs in our eyes that we were present and willing to be honest and real and incredibly brave, no matter what the state of our abs.

We are aging, every one of us, everyday, all the time. This body will not stay.  It will morph and change. It will get weaker, and yes, it will die.  And until that moment, this body will house the very essence of us.  This body will play host to all our hopes and fears, our most true and alive moments.  This body will hold every second of our existence on this planet, and it will remember down to the cells everything that made us laugh and cry.

Today, get out your big camera, your phone or your point and shoot and honor your body.  Your perfection (or lack thereof) is not the point.  What matters is that you turn your gaze on what is holding you together right now.  What matters is that you love and cherish the essence of who you are before it's too late.

Comments

[Jeannine]

fantastic blog post! One that should be repeated often!

[Ella]

this is beautiful ! Big thank you. I needed that !!!

[Tepary]

This is stunning. We piecemeal and dissect, never looking at the whole.

[helen sotiriadis]

wonderful, wonderful post. i'm sharing it around, most importantly, sending it to my daughter.
thank you!

[lookyang]

we're beautiful in our way, thanks for this beautiful post :)

[Chantal]

I like the idea, but keep it to myself, my body... not real proud of it a tthe moment...

[Alexandra]

Thank you. I should read this every morning!

[Marcie]

This is so beautifully said!! I'm going to print it out and keep it as an affirmation and reminder to myself. Thank-you for this gift!

[Another Fat Princess]

Beautifully said.
xx

[Debra]

wonderful post! I had been putting this off, having had an accident recently, but hey I hear I have a terrific gallbladder!

[Hannah Mayo]

Thank you so much for this post.

[Audrey]

Just awesome post. I need to revisit this one often!!

[Susan]

Just saying again what everyone before me stated ... this is a wonderful post, thank you for your words and thoughts.

[Line]

I love this post this is so true!

[Katy]

Thanks Jen for this post! I think we all need to hear that everyday!

[Misty]

Thank you for this. You are right. Even though it's so hard to do, you are right.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dontforgetthehorse/5775612973/in/photostream/lightbox/

[melissa]

gorgeous photo. i love this more than you can imagine...thank you, jen.

[Monybean]

Well done! Well done indeed. Thank you for reminding us all we are not alone in the aging process. I think we sometimes forget that. I am learning to celebrate the "flaws" and find beauty in all.

[Kristina]

what a great post. i\ve been thinking about that lately. so true.

[gina]

a perfectly beautiful post to start my day with...and remember to hold those truths in my mind everyday. lovely and perfect!

[Tania Palermo]

Amen...so true. What a fantastic post!!

[Michelle C]

Thank you so much for this. I need this reminder. So appreciated.

[Andrea]

Thanks so much for this post! I think I need to read your thoughts on a daily basis!

And my share:
http://www.andreahandl.de/?p=400

[anngeedee]

My share: http://www.flickr.com/photos/anngeedee/5766319983/in/photostream

[Judith]

Fantastic post. Doesn't need the photo (although that's fine). The really important thing is those words, winging right to the center of our selves.
The heart of it for me:
"scanning our pictures instead for signs in our eyes that we were present and willing to be honest and real and incredibly brave, no matter what the state of our abs"
I'm old, so I know you're right. But how do you know so much when you're still young?
Applause.

[removeyourlenscap]

so, so, so true! the other day at my husbands work the ladies were complaining about all their gray hair and that they shouldn't have this many at the age of 30. to which my husband replied, "i hope you realize every 30 year old woman says that!" if we stopped pretending to be someone we aren't, and embraced our natural beauty, maybe we would all be a bit happier!

[Kiersten]

I wrote a blog about this very thing a few weeks ago...here's the photo

http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkangel71/5694778250/in/set-7215762513920307

Thanks for the beautiful reminder, Jen!

[shannon casey falkenstein]

Thank you so much for this beautiful reminder. I wrote a blog entry about this type of thing in March entitled "Nirvana In My Closet"


http://yearoflivingangerfree.blogspot.com/2011/03/nirvana-in-my-closet.html

Another related, Buddhist thought:

"Form is emptiness and emptiness is form."

[sarah hemm]

thanks for this post!!! well needed reminder!

[Stephanie]

I'm slowly starting to accept my little flaws. From the newly formed wrinkles to the lifelong freckles. This is a fabulous post and a much-needed reminder. Surprisingly, forcing myself to experiment with self-portraits has helped me learn to accept, and perhaps appreciate, the little "flaws" that make me me. http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephaniecourt/5403282527/in/set-72157624262368017

[Jenni Bailey]

Love this. As the mom of two young girls I am determined to send this message as often as I possibly can.

I mean, just to look at this beauty and know that someday she will have any problem with it at all just breaks my heart. http://jennibailey.com/?p=409

[John]

Firstly I really like the still especially the close cropping and secondly although I am male and should either be above the pressures of the perfect body image or too dumb to understand I forget which stance the media is peddling this week :-) I always feel very uncomfotable within my own skin and if I am honest I don't know why.

My sister says it's why I love being behind the camera instead of infront, at the end of the day its what you do that counts not what you look like and if all else fails then you should listen to what Regina Spektors says "I have a perfect body because my eyelashes catch my sweat yes they do" :-) how can that not make you happy.

Take care
John

http://gfrogstudio.blogspot.com/2011/05/self-portrait-canon-eos-500d.html

[Brenda]

My husband and I had this discussion not long ago. Neither of us like having our photo taken - we're too....old, etc etc etc. After looking at some photos taken about 10 years ago we realized that we looked good at that time and that we will feel the same way in 10 years about images taken now. We made a pact - we'll let each other take more pictures of the other. We're taking more pictures of each other and we're focusing on fun images.
http://www.pbase.com/skiingrn1/image/132015455
http://www.pbase.com/skiingrn1/image/131548168

[autumn sun]

thanks for this beautiful post. it's so true - if i could just embrace it

[Veronica Forsman]

One of my soul sisters shared with site with the rest of us this morning. And what a wonderful way to begin the day!
Thank you for reminding us that we indeed beautiful. The thing about a photograph is that it catcvhes what you can't hide...the essense of you. It comes through your eyes, in the way you hold yourself, and your energy is captured. We are all beautiful. No matter what time or damage, what pain or experience has placed as far as the showings of time, every wrinkle, every line, every freckle on our face is a map of the life lived. I for one want to ensure my map is shown off, showing every experience, every joy, every experience in my life of a life actually lived shows in my face, my body, and my heart.
Thanks for reminding me of this today. Keep doing what you do as make an impact on others and the map of your life, your journey, continues to be shared.
Veronica

[Corinna]

Wow. What a wonderful post, exactly what I need to be hearing these days. I love the part about realizing that in 10 years we'll look back and think *this* was the time we looked so great. Anyway, you inspired me to try it:
http://www.birdwannawhistle.com/blog/2011/5/31/in-my-self-interest.html

[Through the Lens of Kimberly Gauthier, Photo Blog]

I'm a slender, curvy gal and I hate having my picture taken, because I think my generous girls make me look bigger than I am in photos. I recently did a video for the Seattle Chevy Girls campaign and laugh, because I'm not fat, but that didn't stop me from doing multiple takes and two wardrobe changes...

http://www.kimberlygauthier.com/business/seattle-chevy-girls/5732/

[beth]

I can't tell you how much I needed this. Having just had a birthday (one that has made me sad, frustrated, melancholy and nostalgic) I'm happy to say I've gained a new perspective from reading your post.

A thousand thank yous.

[Tessa]

Thank you for this post! I needed it this morning ... and probably every morning. I'll be getting my camera out tonight!

[stefanie renee]

god, jen, you are the goddess of words ~ you always have me.
beautifully said and yes, this is what we have so let's cherish it for all that it is.
us.
xo

[jenifer]

this couldn't have been said better. i think i will print this out and post it where i can be reminded more often to be kind to myself............thanks, Jen!

[maureen @ Cottage 960]

such wisdom. We are so hard on ourselves. It's priceless to have women friends who remind us of our inner and outer beauty, no matter where we are on our life journey.

[Natalie]

Thank you so much for this, it made me cry a little because it was so meaningful and beautiful! As a photographer, I rarely ever have my photo taken and I like it that way, but this made me realize that if I can find beauty in everything else in the world, I should be able to find it in myself :)

[carmen]

there's no doubt that you've brought to light what so many of us feel. i live in a place that celebrates youth and will do most anything to achieve it. that's hard to live up to some days. what i've noticed though, many who have achieved this false youth feel the same way. they only see the faults, the places untouched by surgeons. that's a lot of money to spend on happiness that never seems to come. so here we are, reminding each other of our beauty, to change our definition of that word -- you can count me in.

[Mary]

Thank you, Jen.

It's so refreshing to read such a positive outlook on our bodies and self. I'm so tired of hearing the other shit.

[Ev'Yan]

Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful.

Thank you.

[Meg]

...thank you. The world needs these words. We need to hear them again and again and again.

Thank you.

~Meg

[Naomi]

Is is weird that I think I have big nostrils, but I kinda like my neck? (Don't answer, that *is* weird.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nomesthenome/5807933866/in/photostream